Lakes

Road Salt’s Harm to Freshwater Ecosystems Could Ripple Out to All of Us

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We have a salt problem, and we’re not referring to our diets. As effective as salt is at de-icing our highways in the winter, new research reveals that its extensive use is also causing damage to freshwater ecosystems.   What’s more, saltwater concentrations deemed safe by regulators in the US, Canada, and Europe aren’t doing … Read more

On the Great Lakes, scientists are making a ‘Winter Grab’ of rare data | Science

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GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN—On a brutally cold day here earlier this week, Kirill Shchapov stood 200 meters off the shore of Lake Michigan, using a green auger to drill into a glistening ice sheet that stretched to the horizon. A fountain of water erupted when he yanked the auger from the hole. But soon Shchapov, a … Read more

Algal blooms in freshwater lakes are becoming more common worldwide

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Lakes across the world have seen an increase in algal blooms that strangle freshwater ecosystems, according to an analysis of satellite images from 1982 to 2019 Environment 3 February 2022 By Chen Ly An algal bloom in Lake Erie photographed by a Landsat satellite in September 2017 Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory using Landsat 8 data … Read more

Astrobiology: Bacteria can survive extreme conditions that may have existed in ancient Mars lakes

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Microorganisms have adapted to one of the harshest environments on Earth, a sulphurous and acidic lake that is considered an analogue to ancient lakes on Mars Space 28 January 2022 By Chen Ly A volcanic crater in Costa Rica with an extremely harsh lake known as Laguna Caliente Justin Wang Bacteria have adapted to survive … Read more

Glacier Lakes Make Permanent Ice Disappear Over Twice as Fast, Study Reveals

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Glaciers are retreating faster globally due to climate change but they melt more quickly when they flow into a lake than when they end on land, with consequences for water supplies, a new study found on Thursday.   The Swiss-funded study is the first large-scale, detailed analysis of the phenomenon in mountain glaciers and could … Read more

‘Killer Lake’ in Africa Looks Like Paradise, But It’s Hiding a Deadly Secret

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The engineers aboard the floating power station on Lake Kivu could only watch nervously as the volcano in the distance erupted violently, sending tremors rumbling through the water beneath them.   It was not the lava shooting from Mount Nyiragongo last May that spooked them, but the enormous concentrations of potentially explosive gases within Kivu, … Read more

Mysterious Signal of Hidden Lakes on Mars May Not Be What We Thought

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The likelihood of lakes of liquid water hidden under Mars‘ southern polar ice cap is receding before our very eyes. Last year, a paper found that temperatures were likely far too cold for water to remain unfrozen in the region. Now, a new study has found that the radar signal interpreted as liquid water was … Read more

Mars water: Spots at south pole thought to be lakes could be volcanic rock

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Radar images of Mars’s southern ice cap indicated that there could be a lake there – but a new set of simulations hints that it could be volcanic rock instead Space 24 January 2022 By Leah Crane The icy cap over Mars’s south pole, photographed by Mars Express ESA/DLR/FU Berlin / Bill Dunford There may … Read more

Scientists Identify a Previously Unknown Type of Storm, Called an ‘Atmospheric Lake’

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A new type of weather condition has been observed, existing primarily in one particular part of the world: compact, slow-moving, moisture-rich pools. Researchers are calling these ‘atmospheric lakes’.   This unique type of storm occurs over the western Indian Ocean and moves towards Africa. Unlike most storms – created by a vortex – the lakes … Read more